


Reunion

by StratusCloudSurfer



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, M/M, sort of? not really? i wanted to list it just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StratusCloudSurfer/pseuds/StratusCloudSurfer
Summary: Nanu has a reunion with Grimsley at the edge of a cliffside high on Mount Hokulani.
Relationships: Giima | Grimsley/Kuchinashi | Nanu
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33





	Reunion

Rain pattered softly on the roof of the Po Town Police Station. The continuous, monotonous noise was relaxing… or depressing, depending on your perspective. Nanu tried to convince himself that it was the former rather than the latter, but he had never been very good at lying to himself.

If he was, maybe he would have done a better job of forcing the nightmare out of his mind, the one that always came back and never left him alone, and seemed to creep up on him every time he closed his eyes, like he had done for a nap about an hour and a half ago.

He sighed and stroked the spine of the Meowth that was curled up on his chest. He closed his eyes and opened them again very slowly. The digital clock on the microwave blinked from 7:45 to 7:46. Dusky, quiet darkness engulfed him while the rain continued on outside. The Po Town Police Station was always pretty quiet, but today it was especially so.

He recognized, on some level, that he probably needed to get up and move around. Movement was good for you. So was proper nutrition. I should get up and make something to eat, he thought to himself. He hadn’t eaten all day today, so he probably needed to. 

He thought it, but he couldn’t quite muster the energy to move the little Meowth weighting his chest down and get up. His inescapable nightmare always left him feeling exhausted, and the more he thought about it, the more demotivated he became at the mere prospect and how much effort he would have to put into it. 

He let out another sigh, feeling the tiny creature purr in its slumber, and let his eyes drift closed again. He had almost lost himself in the darkness and the pattering of the rain again when a piercing noise cut through his thoughts. It sounded like an alarm clock, but not quite. His body jolted and breath hitched through him so suddenly that it caused the kitten to startle and jump off of him. 

Slowly, rubbing his head, he sucked in a breath and drug himself up to a seated position. Lethargy settled into his bones, fatigue making his brain feel foggy… but still, he stood up and trudged over to the ringing station phone. 

“Ula’ula Island Police, this is Nanu,” he grumbled. A dizziness swept through his brain from the sudden act of getting up, a fuzzy, dark lightheadedness filling his being for a second. He propped one arm against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut again for a second.

“Uh… yes, hi, Mr. Nanu,” a distinctive, distressed, childish voice said through the line. 

Sophocles, Nanu thought immediately, and stood up straight as a jolt of alertness ran through him. He knew how awkward and anxious the kid was, and how much he hated talking to people, especially over the phone. 

Which meant that something very serious must have been going on. 

“Good evening, Sophocles,” he said, trying to make his voice sound as even as possible to keep the kid from freaking out. “What’s going on? Is Molayne okay?” 

“Yeah, he’s fine, but… um… well, you should probably get here as soon as possible.” 

“Where? Mount Hokulani? What’s going on?” he asked again. 

“Yes. I mean, um... “ he paused, before blurting out, all at once, “...There’s someone standing on one of the cliffs on the top of the mountain. We think he’s going to jump off.” 

Nanu’s eyes widened. He had tried to prepare himself for what was about to come out of the kid’s mouth, but he hadn’t quite expected that.

“I’ll be right there,” Nanu replied curtly before hanging up the phone, already putting on his shoes. He grabbed his jacket in one hand, his belt of pokeballs in the other, and was out of the door in the next minute. 

...

When Nanu arrived at the Observatory at the top of Mount Hokulani, the sky was chasing away the last wisps of orangish-red from across the bottom of the horizon. His breath ran ragged from his lungs from the physical exertion of walking up the steep slope after a day of inactivity. Just as he was about to open the door, Sophocles ran up to him from around the building, waving his arms and looking just as out-of-breath as he was when he stopped. 

“He’s… this way. Come quick!” 

Nanu followed the kid around the building, skirting the sheer edge of the cliff that it sat on. He paused when Sophocles leaned against the edge of the thin railing separating them from a slim, jutting rock and the steep drop off beyond it, to where he could just make out Molayne’s wiry frame and a man standing beyond him on the very edge of the cliff in question, dressed in a wispy white kimono that blew in the wind. He couldn’t tell much more about him other than that he had dark hair. 

“M-Mo’s been... talking to him for a while, trying to get him to step away,” Sophocles explained between breaths. “Um… so far it hasn’t been working.” 

Slowly, Nanu nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle this.” 

And with that, without a second thought except to acknowledge the goosebumps that rose on his arms, he stepped over the railing and carefully approached the edge. 

Nanu felt every hair on the back of his neck stand up on edge as he approached Molayne’s hunched form, as if he could feel the emptiness of the space below the foot of rock that separated him from falling some thousand feet straight to a gruesome death.

“Ugh. What a pain…” he muttered to himself, but nevertheless made his way carefully over to the thin, blonde-haired man. 

It seemed that the wind picked up as the cliff got thinner. When he got just off Molayne’s shoulder, it was picking up his hair and the bottoms of his button-down shirt. Molayne turned to him. 

“Hey, Kahuna,” he greeted. He flashed him a shallow smile and adjusted his glasses, what Nanu figured was a nervous gesture. “This guy’s been standing out there for a while. I’ve tried shouting, but he hasn’t acknowledged me, and I don’t want to get any closer because I’m a clutz and I’d really rather not fall to my death today.” 

“Hmm,” Nanu replied, considering the man again. There was something familiar about his form--something that itched the back of his mind. He shoved his hands into his pockets, thoughtful. “How long is a while?” he asked at length. 

“Hm, I don’t know… about an hour or so? That’s when we noticed him, at least.” 

Nanu nodded. That was… odd. Then again, this entire situation was odd. He hoped that meant that the man wouldn’t do anything rash if he did approach him, but the fact that he hadn’t acknowledged Molayne at all was a little worrying. Then again, he was still a good twenty feet off, so it was possible, but not probable, that he hadn’t heard him over the whistle of the wind through the rocks. 

He ran through his options in his mind, trying to determine his best course of action. The way he saw it, he had two options: trying to talk to the man from here, or doing the same but getting closer. He sighed as he realized that he really didn’t have a choice at all. 

“Fine,” he sighed. “I’m going out there. If I fall… well, at least it will be a swift death.” 

“Be careful,” Molayne warned, and stepped aside so that he could get past. 

Nanu did indeed tread carefully, nearly holding his breath in concentration as he approached the man who stood at the edge of the cliff. The air around him seemed to buzz with an energy not unlike electricity that intensified the closer he got. He stubbornly squashed the fear that threatened to instinctively rise through his gut and into his throat at the sight of the wide open expanse that gave way to the darkened peaks and valleys of the mountain range, the lush greenery that coated the land below his feet. It was beautiful, really; a beautiful place to die if he took one wrong step. 

He got to about five feet from the edge of the cliff and the stranger before he stopped. Instinctively, as if by some unseen force. The wind sent a shiver through his body and the intense silence had him frozen for a moment before he found his voice. 

“Hey,” he called. 

And to his surprise, the man immediately turned around, his striking blue eyes widened in surprise that he couldn’t hide. 

Seeing them, the breath flew from Nanu’s lungs, and a memory slammed into him like a train, and he stepped back so suddenly that he sent a shower of small rocks plummeting off the rockface and into nothingness. 

He looked vastly different than he had when they’d met, but he’d recognize those eyes anywhere. 

“Grimsley?” he asked, dumbfounded, with a breathlessness that was wisped away by the wind and soaked into the mountain air. “What are you doing here?”

The surprise and recognition lingered in his eyes for a second more before it disappeared, and seemed to be replaced by a light that brightened and danced in them. As if he hadn’t just met him again on the very edge of a cliffside high on Hokulani mountain, and as if he didn’t look almost like a complete stranger with how much his appearance had changed, he smiled at him widely and brought a slim hand thoughtfully to his lips. 

“Man, oh man,” he said, his voice lilting with amusement. “What a pleasure it is to see you again, Nanu.” 

...

Nanu took him in, trying to remember how he used to look. Definitely, a few years ago, he hadn’t looked this old--or this sick. His once jet black hair was now heavily streaked through with gray, and his skin looked paler, devoid of its confident glow. The only thing that really remained the same were his vibrant blue eyes, although they were now rimmed with thick, dark bags. 

“Yeah,” Nanu grunted back, drawing in a breath and trying to clear the shock from his face. “Although, I think it would be more pleasant if we weren’t having this reunion on an obviously off-limits and extremely dangerous cliffside.”

“On the contrary, I think it’s the perfect place,” Grimsley replied. He gestured lazily with his wrist. “I mean, you couldn’t ask for anywhere more romantic.” 

Nanu shook his head, fighting back the amused smile that rose to his lips. He’d only known Grimsley briefly after they had inexplicably been drawn together by alcohol and the evening time at a bar in Pasio during the Pokemon Master’s League. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed his presence until just now. 

“You didn’t answer my original question,” Nanu pointed out, trying to re-focus. 

“Aw, do I have to?” he asked, faking a pout. 

“I’d like for you to,” he replied. “You gave these two guys a real scare, you know. Don’t you think they deserve an explanation?”

“Oh, did I?” He asked. “And did I scare you, as well?”

Nanu, not wanting to admit that there was a growing, gnawing pit of worry in his stomach, shrugged nonchalantly. “Nah,” he said. “But nothing really scares me anymore.” 

“That checks. You are a miserable old wretch, after all.”

He probably should have felt offended, but instead he only felt amused. He snorted a laugh, shaking his head. 

“So, are you going to tell me why you’re standing on the edge of this cliff?” he asked, thinking that maybe a direct approach was the best way to go now. 

“Hmm…” Grimsley seemed to mull it over for a little while before coming to a decision. “...No, I don’t think so.” 

“Well, would you maybe like to step away from it?” 

Some unidentifiable but distinctly vulnerable display of emotion flickered on his face for the briefest of moments, so short that Nanu would have missed it if he had blinked. He wasn’t sure what it had stemmed from, or what sort of well it flowed back into, but he could tell right away it was a deeply personal, probably painful one. It told him that he wasn’t standing here for his health, or to admire the view. 

He hesitated for a few moments, staring into Nanu’s eyes with a small, perplexed frown, as if he was searching for something in them. After a while, though, the perplexity faded into what was almost a resigned expression. What he had resigned from, Nanu wasn’t sure, but he would have been lying to himself if he wasn’t a little bit relieved by the change in his countenance. 

Nanu watched as he sucked in a breath, turning his lips up in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Oh, I suppose,” he replied finally. “But what’s in it for me?”

“Anything you want,” Nanu said before he could stop himself, his voice barely over a gruff whisper. Even he found himself surprised by the desperation in his tone, but his heart was sending words to his mouth before his brain could process them. “Just please. Come back with me.”

With that, he extended his hand. Grimsley stared at him, looking completely baffled, and for a moment his entire body seemed to freeze. 

Then, to his surprise--and relief--he took it, and allowed him to pull him away from the cliffside.

The sky was dark by the time that the two finally stepped back over the metal barrier. It had only been a few minutes since he had stepped over it the first time, but for some reason, Nanu felt as if it had been a significantly longer time--at least an hour, maybe more. 

Sophocles and Molayne were standing together, looking noticeably relieved, but Nanu turned back to Grimsley, who was closely following behind him. “So, what do you want to do now?” he asked. 

Grimsley frowned at him, looking as if he genuinely didn’t know. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Honestly, Nanu, I didn’t plan my evening out that far…” 

“Well, how about we grab a bite to eat? Do you like Sushi?”

Grimsley grinned. “You know I do,” he answered.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure whether I will continue this or not. I might if I get more ideas. Thank you for reading!


End file.
